Scale to the top of Timberwolf Mountain lightly dressed on a clear day and stay out to watch a final sunset?
It's a dark and dramatic farewell that fits the mood of the game, but maybe lacking in glory.

I had my rifle disappear in Pleasant Valley after a bear attack. I just figured that the bear had broken it, although I really expected to find it nearby.
Is that a bug? If so, how do I spawn a rifle back into the game?

It would be neat if in game survival tips were presented as survivor "thoughts" either as on screen text or voice-over. I had to google pictures of birch and maple IRL to recognise the trees in game but after a little reading our survivors should maybe find identification for useful flora and fauna popping up "into their heads" along with a usage tip.
It could also be a way to impart real, accurate survival tips?
It would need to be something that can be switched off too, as it would be rather wearing after a while.

My 9 year old daughter likes to watch me play TLD. She likes to name the survivors and cheer them on before their inevitable demise (I never said I was any good. We're well on the way to working our way through the alphabet in names ... ). And while TLD is dark, it's a 'pit your wits against nature' kind of dark that's no worse than a traditional fairy story.
The addition of other human NPCs in the Sandbox and in Story mode is likely to change the atmosphere considerably. That trailer was rather graphic!
So are we going to have the option to keep the world lonely, as is? Having a co-pilot is fun and she's much better at spotting loot based on fleeting glimpses than I am ...

But why can't you pre-emptively attack? I followed a wounded wolf who limped along bleeding for ages after a struggle. I should have been able to pounce and finish him off before he got too far. Instead I foolishly followed him close to another who did for me instead ...

And fans come back. I paid into the Kickstarter because I love the concept and have dipped into the game on and off since it was first available. But it's only the combination of a decent gaming pc and the last update that it has it really gripping me. And TBH I consider I've had value for money with the game as is. Story mode is just a huge bonus.

I'll second @palbi. Build a gaming PC and buy a cheaper 'good enough' laptop. I feel a fool for buying expensive MacBook Pros so that I have a laptop that "can do everything" when in reality a MacBook fulfils my everyday needs and a MacBook Pro doesn't really do games that well anyway.
Recently built this gaming PC (link to pcpartpicker, which is highly recommended for fine tuning component choices) and overclocked the i5 to 4.9GHz. I'm very pleased with it. The build is around the 'Superb' level on logical increments, another useful website if you're building a gaming pc. It's overkill for TLD, but there are other games that are graphically much more demanding. If you get something with similar spec it'll be good for gaming for a while.
I've gone from noticeable lagging, frame rate dips and having to turn down graphics settings (playing on a circa 2015 MacBook Pro) to playing TLD at 60 - 90 fps on the highest settings at 1440p resolution with the gaming PC. And if you go for an AMD GPU, try and get a Freesync monitor. If the fps stay between 40 - 90 you get no tearing and frame rate dips are barely noticeable at all.

That would also be something neat. We have a lot of natural hot spring spas near in the area where I live in New Zealand. They are wonderful, as you say, for resting weary muscles. And you can sit in them up to your neck, warming up in sub zero temperatures and never get cold. Until you have to get out ...

It would be neat to be able to harvest bone from kills and then craft it into useful items like fish hooks and needles. A rabbit or 2 could supply the raw materials for a new sewing kit or the gear needed to go fishing, without needing to find scrap metal.

I'd like to be able to briefly bleed out my kills on site then carry or drag them to a more convenient location to butcher them properly later. And/or be able to roughly dismember larger prey on site and then relocate the parts for later, more refined butchery in a better location.
I guess that would need to be balanced by having animal corpses eaten by wolves if they're left for too long.